Social Emergency Centers across the country provided free counseling to 4,200 people with suicidal tendencies in the last Iranian year that ended in March, of whom 2,800 were women and 1,400 men, said Habibollah Masoudi Farid, social deputy at the State Welfare Organization. According to the Iranian Social Workers Association, the suicide rate has been 5-7 per 100,000 people during the last 15 years, a figure much lower than the global average of 16 per 100,000, IRNA reported. In the WHO Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2020, WHO member states have committed themselves to working towards the global target of reducing the suicide rate in their countries by 10% by 2020.
